Category: Tech

Josuhe Pagliery, the designer and artist behind Empty Head Games, today launched Cuba’s first Indiegogo campaign to back his new videogame, Savior. Created by his studio Empty Head Games, Savior is a 2D platformed that, when launched, will be Cuba’s first independent videogame. The $10,000 campaign will fund the development of the playable demo, to be released early next year. This is a big step … Continue reading New Indiegogo Campaign Launches to Fund Cuba’s First Indie Game, Savior

A group of Cuban entrepreneurs calling themselves SEIM are attempting to create the Cuban Uber (Cuber?) Though it’s still in its infancy, the app has the potential to change the way Cubans, and tourists, navigate the island. According to a recent article in Cubanet, the group will be releasing the app, called RenC, this October, though they’re already registering drivers. Airbnb recently took of in Cuba, … Continue reading The Cuban Uber. Or should we call it Cuber?

Photo: Fernando Medina Fernández / Cachivache Media Back in August, Kcho Studios hosted a tournament for Defense of the Ancients (DotA), known as Cuba DotA 2016. A similar event was held last year, at the Fabrica de Arte Cubano (FAC). This year is a big deal for a few reason: it’s the first time that Cubans have used Steam, a popular gaming platform; it’s the first time … Continue reading A DotA Tournament in Kcho Studios

Above: Not the real Paquete, just a regular old 1 terabyte hard drive. Part of our ongoing series about the internet in Cuba, this week we look at one of the most interesting and elusive parts of Cuban internet: El Paquete. Almost everybody in Cuba knows about it. Some say it’s one of the greatest inventions to ever hit the island. It’s El Paquete Semanal, … Continue reading The Internet in Cuba: El Paquete Semanal

The Cuban government recently announced they would be expanding their wifi hotspots to include all five miles of the Malecon. Although the service will be continue to be very expensive for ordinary Cubans, the increase in access points will be welcomed. This is the next step in a government program that began a year and a half ago. In order to increase internet access to … Continue reading Wifi Coming to the Malecon

Video games are extremely popular in Cuba. Gamers create illegal intranets to play DOTA and hack Pokémon Go just to catch a few Pokémon in a wifi park. There’s a thriving gaming community, but unfortunately, with the exceptions of a few apps and educational games published through the government, the rest of these are all made abroad. Josuhe H. Pagliery is trying to change that. … Continue reading Up Close with Josuhe Pagliery, Creator of Cuba’s First Indie Game, Savior

In the year since it began operating here, Airbnb has already made tremendous strides in Cuba. In many ways, this success has less to do with Airbnb’s product and more to do with their understanding of the Cuban system. Airbnb had the foresight to capitalize on perfect opportunity, and overcame the challenges that could have hampered their success. Over the past twenty years, as Cuba … Continue reading Airbnb Finds a Perfect Match in Cuba

A Cuban friend of mine recently lost her laptop on the streets of Havana. This would be a big deal anywhere, but especially so in Cuba. Laptops cost around two year’s salary for the average Cuban, and even if you have the money, you’d still either have to travel to the US to buy one or get it on the black market. I felt pretty … Continue reading The Cuban Cloud

Pokemon Go, the smash-hit augmented reality game from Niantic, has broken records and already played in countries all over the world. Now it can add Cuba to the list. Downloading the app isn’t permitted in Cuba because the game is only available in certain countries and the Google Play and Apple App stores don’t work the country. Despite this, users are accessing the game using … Continue reading Pokemon Go-es to Cuba. Well, sort of

Part of our ongoing series about the internet in Cuba, we look at one way many Cubans and tourists get their internet: Wifi hotspots. A relatively new phenomenon in Cuba, these hotspots are completely unlike anything in the United States. The program started in the summer of 2015, when the Cuban government opened up hotspots in 35 locations throughout the country, mostly located in Havana … Continue reading The Internet in Cuba: Wifi Hotspots